New Blog Announced!

It would have to be a blog about my car, right?

My first year of Jaguar ownership has not been without its share of unique experiences and a few headaches.  I've been all too happy to strike up a conversation about my vehicle and the quirks that come with owning a Jaguar in a city 300km from the nearest dealership, not that I'm complaining.  My passion for maintaining and teaching myself about my vehicle has never been higher - and that should say something considering how I turned my previous car, an old '89 Buick, into a character in a handful of my short films.

I've always loved cars, and feeling the need to direct this energy and passion towards other enthusiastic Jaguar owners (and car enthusiasts in general) I've decided that creating a new casual blog would be the perfect outlet.  Tentatively titled, Jeeves and the Jaguar, the focus of the site will be about my first hand experiences with my '99 Jaguar XJ8.  In addition to this, you can expect lots of photos, references to the vehicle in pop culture, restoration/maintenance updates/advice, features in my original videos, and day to day type stories about driving my current dream car.

While Editing Luke already commands a lot of my attention, I'm aware that a new balance will have to be struck.  However, I'm excited about the potential to target a more specific audience with very similar interests and see how I can bring my unique style to the project.  Based on my own research for my vehicle, there aren't many blogs quite like this out there - casual advice and passion with lots of personality and a heavy slant on entertaining. Hey, it might even help a few people out.

The new blog will debut June 2011.

The Cyclotrope by Tim Wheatley

I think part of the joy I get in sharing other people's work comes from stumbling upon it. In that same sense, I like to think that people who stumble onto my site get a sense that they've found something that they wouldn't see just anywhere. 

The Cyclotrope by Tim Wheatley is one of those obscure, random, experimental, but altogether inspired videos that is easy to be fascinated by. Using the rotation of a bicycle wheel, various cutouts and images are used as frames so that as the wheel spins we see a fluid motion.  This is animation 101 at its finest, but with the live action showing just how the illusion is created.

Hollywood Blvd. Continued

With months between this and my first Hollywood post it's amazing how different some of the images looked to me. I was reviewing the hundreds of pictures I shot and thought that there was still so much to share from the afternoon we spent chilling out on Hollywood Boulevard. No matter how cliche or sensationalized, there's still nothing quite like it. 

I've included a couple of historic shots below to compare the locations to their present day status.   It's actually pretty amazing that so much has happened on this one street, and with the vintage shots in mind, it's tough not to get swept up by the cultural significance of the surroundings.

Looking across the street to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

This is a picture of Grauman's Chinese Theatre from 1957, long before the Kodak Theatre and super complexes took over the street.

This is a $300,000 Bentley Continental. Wow!

The decor of Hollywood and Highland was built in homage to the set from D.W. Griffith's 1916 film, Intolerance.  The scale is meant to showcase just how massive the original set was.

This is a still from the original set of D.W. Giffith's Intolerance (1916)

This is the entrance of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre.  It was opened in 1922 and is the site of the first ever Hollywood movie premiere, which was for Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks.

The historic Roosevelt Hotel, site of the very first Academy Awards in 1929.  You can see a vintage picture of the Cinegrill sign from 1949 below.

The El Capitan is a fully restored movie palace operated by Disney.

I dedicate this image to my friend Tyler who shared his pictures of some of the worst wax figures you can see in Hollwyood - not to be mistaken for Madame Tussauds just a block away.

This is a vintage image of Hollywood Blvd. from 1946.  The red building on the left is the Scientology building seen above.  The building further down the street with the tower on the left is the El Capitan Theatre.

I'm a sucker for pressed pennies.  The perfect pocket souvenir.

Such a cool place.

For more, check out the old footage I shot of Hollywood Blvd. from 2004.